Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews

Pom-Pom Monster Salon

Generations of children and young people have had fun making pom-poms. Pom-poms make wonderful adornments for clothing, you can turn them into decorations, and you can even make pom-pom people and animals. Now, thanks to Klutz and the wonderful people who work there, you can make pom-poms and turn them into funny little monsters that have fancy hair dos.

The kit includes a book full of projects to try, colorful yarn, glue, a pom-pom maker, a comb, some little bows, googly eyes, and foam teeth and tongues with which to adorn your pom-pom monsters. In the back of the book there are several pages of punch-out feet, accessories, shoes, wings, horns, and labels. All you need to be able to make the pom-pom monsters are some scissors and storage bags.

The book begins by showing you what is included in the kit. Then directions, with illustrations, show the crafter how to make a basic “Shaggy Monster” pom-pom. The pom-pom that you create will have long yarn hair that you will style to create different looks. For example the “Basic Boo!-do” requires that give your pom-pom monster two pigtails.

If you want to take your pom-pom “gruesome grooming” to the next level then you can try fluffing your monster’s hair. The “Fright-Full” look requires that you use the comb provided to tease the yarn hair until your monster is fluffy all over.

Of course, you can make your shaggy monster pom-pom using more than one color of yarn. The “Moaning Mohawk” monster has a body that is purple and hair that is orange. You can create all kinds of variations. There is even a monster that is made using three colors of yarn. One version has eyebrows of a different color, and one has a beard.

Following the projects section, there is a section where you are shown how to fix pom-poms that did not quite work out. We all make mistakes sometimes and it is reassuring to see that even the lopsided or strange looking pom-poms have monster potential. The book wraps up by showing crafters an almost dizzyingly colorful gallery of pom-pom monsters, just in case you need inspiration.